ItsTheBlog™

Hank then:

"We wanted him to stay a Yankee. We wanted to let him know how much we wanted him," he said. "The bottom line is ... do we really want anybody that really doesn't want to be a Yankee? How the heck can you do that? Compare him with [Derek] Jeter. Jeter, since he was a little kid, all he ever wanted to do was play shortstop for the Yankees. That's what we want." -Hank Steinbrenner.

Hank now:

"I don't care about true Yankees. I mean, after all, A-Rod hits a bazillion gillion homeruns, and he's probably the best hitter to ever step foot on a baseball field. Ever. And Ever. I guess I want him on my team, even if he isn't a true Yankee. He'll learn from Jeter, eventually."

(see previous post)

I just remembered he said that first part. (chuckle chuckle)

Labels: A-Rod, True Yankee

Generally decent, but there are always exceptions.

Like this piece from the only participant without a Y-chromosome, Jackie MacMullan:

"The Red Sox would rather resign Lowell (than A-Rod) because he brings better chemistry to the clubhouse."

Chemistry in the clubhouse= wins!!!!

Geez guys, what have you been missing? Didn't you hear?.. Games are now won in the clubhouse, not on the field. Because that's where A-Rod is money. On the field. Where it doesn't count. And Lowell is less money. (Still pretty money, but less money). He's much better in the club house.

I don't know how much longer I can take this.

Labels: A-Rod, chemistry, Jackie MacMullan, Mike Lowell

Hank Steinbrenner is Mr. Yankee now.

"We wanted him to stay a Yankee. We wanted to let him know how much we wanted him," he said. "The bottom line is ... do we really want anybody that really doesn't want to be a Yankee? How the heck can you do that? Compare him with [Derek] Jeter. Jeter, since he was a little kid, all he ever wanted to do was play shortstop for the Yankees. That's what we want."


The answer to your question, Hank, is YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! to the infinite power. Yes you want that guy on your team even if he doesn't want to be there. You make him want to be there!!! You tell Mr. Yankee, Derek Jeter, to convince A-Rod that if he dies a Yankee there are a hundred virgins waiting for him in the afterlife. Because damnit you want a guy on your team that hits 56 homeruns.

And seriously, compare him to Derek Jeter. PLLEEEAAASSEEEEEE!!!!

Scenario 1

Laddiiieess annnnddd Gennntttlllmmmaannn...

In the Red Corner (apparently red because A-Rod has never been a true Yankee, and the opposite of a true Yankee must be a red sock), from the home of the best baseball player on the planet, soon to be 3 time MVP, youngest player ever to hit 500 HR's, ALEEEXX ROODDRRIIIGGUEEEZZZ!

In the Pinstripe Corner (naturally), weighing in at 190 lbs, this "True Yankee" has the heart of a lion, the grit of a... errr, 3 World Series Rings, and herpes compliments of Jessica Alba... DEERRRREEKKK JJJEEEETTTTEEERRR!!

(Bell Sounds)

Career Stats:

OBP: A-Rod
SLG: A-Rod
OPS: A-Rod
HRs: A-Rod
RBI: A-Rod
Runs:A-Rod
SB (for the hell of it): A-Rod by 1.
BB: A-Rod

LADDDIIEESSS AND GENTLLEEENNN... We have our winner! By unanimous decision, the winner, and still, True Yankee, ever since he was a kid, DEERRRREEEKKK JEEETTTERRR!!!

Scenario 2

Dear Mr. Steinbrenner,
My name is Tommy. I am 43 years old. I am a blind, deaf, parapalegic, and a dwarf. I have carpel tunnel in both my wrists and my penis got stuck in a meat grinder when I was 7. When I was in the 8th grade, Sally stabbed me in the thigh with the scissors because I tried to kiss her. It got so infected that I had to have my leg amputated 2 months later. I have wanted to be a Yankee for as long as I can remember. Please give me a shot, A-Rod doesn't even want to play for you.

Sincerely,
Tommy

*Disclaimer*
I don't blame the Yankees for not going after A-Rod after he opts out and costs them 21 million dollars. But I wouldn't say you don't want him just cause he doesn't want you, he does his job better then 99.9% of Americans. Who doesn't want this employee???

Labels: A-Rod, Hank, True Yankee

"What fans want is a winner. He is not one of those players like Mike Lowell, who has won it twice. He's not going to fill the stadium and bring fans into the stadium."

Mike Lowell. He's the only reason the Red Sox have won the W.S. 2 of the last 4 years. The only reason. Mike Lowell's 21 HR's, 120 Rib Eye's, .378 OBP, .501 SLG and .879 OPS (All very good Cat's) are the reason they won the W.S. But if A-Rod played for the Red Sox and pissed out 54 HR, 156 Rib Pieces, 144 RUNS!!!, .422 OBP, .645 SLG and 1.067 OPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Red Sox would NOT have won the World Series.

Fair enough, Eduardo.

And if that doesn't fill stadiums, but Mike Lowell does, I give up.

Where does A-Rod play next?

"Anaheim Angels."

Actually, it's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. But sure, I'm okay with that. Eddie just hasn't watched or researched any baseball since back when he played. Hey, sound like anyone we know? (cough Joe Morgan/John Kruk cough)

Labels: A-Rod, Eduardo Perez

Many things have been going right for the Yankees in the past month. After an abysmal start in which many questioned whether the Yankees would finish over .500 or whether they'd even have a shot at the wild card, the Bronx Bombers have pretty much turned it around. While they still trail the AL East leading Red Sox by 7 games, they find themselves just 1 back of the Mariners in the Wild Card race and in position to make a final-month push. Alex Rodriguez keeps on swinging with his major league leading 43 home runs and 123 RBIs. But, there's still one veteran Yankee who isn't pulling his weight.


Mike Mussina appears to have lost his starting job after his third awful outing in a row Monday night. The righty gave up 9 hits and 6 runs, all earned, in just 3 innings pitched against the Tigers. The Yankees lost the game 16-0. This comes on the heels of a worse performance against the Angels last week, in which Mussina suffered through just an inning and two-thirds before exiting with 7 earned runs under his belt. I watched as the Yankees lost that game 18-9. Mussina moved to 8-10 on the year with a 5.53 ERA.

In his last 3 starts alone, he's given up 19 earned runs in 9.2 innings pitched. Pretty awful for a guy who has won 247 career games and appeared in nearly 500. Manager Joe Torre says that Mussina is being replaced by prospect Ian Kennedy in his next start. How permanent the move will be is unknown. I get the feeling that the veteran Yankee won't be gone too long, as Torre and the Yankee organization tend to prefer the Mussina types over the Kennedy types. I can tell you one thing, though. I'm dropping him from my fantasy team.

Labels: A-Rod, Baseball, Kevdog, Mussina, Yankees

Our journey began on Saturday with a 6 hour drive from Arlington, VA to Cleveland, OH. A little traffic, a stop for lunch, and a stop in Pittsburgh to pick up tickets for our Monday night Pirates vs. Giants doubleheader, and we arrived in Cleveland about 4:30 for the 7:05 game. Blasting "Cleveland Rocks" (of "The Drew Carey Show" fame) on the iPod, we drove through downtown, by Lake Erie and past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We parked and headed towards Jacobs Field. On the way was Quicken Loans Arena, where LeBron and the Cavs just surrendered their chance at the NBA Championship to the San Antonio Spurs. After a stop in the Cavs team store, we headed to the baseball game.

We arrived at Jacobs Field to pick up our seats from Will Call in the left field bleachers. The instant we walked into the stadium, I was a fan. We went through the gate in the "Toyota Home Run Terrace" to watch batting practice. After a few chances at grabbing a home run ball during BP, we walked around the stadium before heading to our seats.


It felt a lot like PetCo Park in San Diego. Very clean and new looking, despite opening in 1994. There's a big bar area in Centerfield, which was packed throughout the game, as well as a "Marketplace" food court area out there. There was also a gaming area with a radar gun to try out your pitch speed in right field. If I remember right, Michael threw 63.

We headed up to the nosebleeds (see picture below) to our seats to watch the game. The Yankees were in town, which was pretty entertaining to see. One look around the stands, and it was easy to see that there were more Yankees fans in the world Cleveland than there were Indians fans. Chants of "Let's Go Yankees" were prevalent, while only about 3 people even put forth an effort of a "Let's Go Tribe" chant.


A Victor Martinez sacrifice fly gave the Indians' fans something to cheer about in the first inning, but a 7-run second inning for the Yankees shut them up quickly. Yankees fans were loving it, and it was pretty entertaining to see. Paul Byrd got ripped on, as A-Rod hit 2 homeruns in the Yankees 11-2 victory. The first 2 innings had that sort of playoff atmosphere at fans jeered back and forth at each other. Then, the Indians fans were forced to simply shut up.

As for the ballpark itself, it probably ended up being my favorite of the trip. It didn't quite have the location as Pittsburgh and Cincinnati did (right on the water, more on that later), but the stadium itself was the best. A restaurant with big glass windows in left field was a nice touch, as well as the bar area in center so Indians fans could drink away their sorrows and have fun after the game still in the park was pretty sweet too. Also, the Indians Hall of Fame in center was fun to see.

All in all, a cool city and a great ballpark.

Labels: A-Rod, Byrd, Cleveland, Indians, Jacobs Field, Kevdog, Road trip, Yankees

According to Skip Bayless, A-Rod (affectionately known as "Lightning Rod") has no mental toughness. Right. I don't want A-Rod on my team because he has no mental toughness. I'm just going to let that soak in. Now let this soak in: .315...(BA) ...27...(HR)...73...(RBI)....417...(OBP)....685...(SLG)...

AL Ranks: RBI's: 1st. HR's: 1st. OPS: 2nd (1.101!!!) RBI: 1st. SLG: 1st.

Please, someone take A-Rod, lock him in a basement and teach him some effing mental toughness. He has none. While he's down there, we'll take Scott Brosius back at 3B. That guy was mentally tough. He won some world series' I hear. That takes mental toughness. A-Rod never will. He's not mentally tough. He just smashes the living poop out of the ball. And he's about to hit his 500th HR, and he's 31 years old. Dude...Skippy... A-Rod's gonna hit like 9456 homeruns by the time he retires.

Skip Bayless's top 3 action movies: (only the 1st one even matters)

1. Die Hard

Skip:"Bruce Willis is underrated, a lot of people on this show think he is overrated, but I think he is underrated"

Skip's mind: Bruce has mental toughness. He should play 3B for the Yankees. The man made "Die Hard" and now he's got "Live Free or Die Hard," like the 275th best movie of the year coming out.

Bruce Willis. Underrated. But A-Rod has no mental Toughness. Seriously Bruce, let A-Rod in on that mess.

2. Predator Whatever.

3. Wild Bunch Whatever.

Labels: A-Rod, Bruce, Mental Toughness